Mile-High Reunion

something Denver does on offense is they have their players stand out of bounds to space the floor better and most of the time the other teams actually guards them, someone(mike prada i think) on sb nation had a breakdown of it

what Denver is doing is pretty remarkable. going to be fun rooting for them in the playoffs. still don't think they can beat OKC, but they have a winning record this season against every single playoff team in the West. i'm happy for Iguodala.

I've watched the Nuggets closely this year, having followed Iguodala westward. They don't have a "superstar," but they have a good shot at challenging the "teams without superstars can't win titles" theory, with all nine rotation players having PERs 15.0 and above (which has to be some sort of record). They aren't a good shooting team (25th in 3P%, 29th in FT%), but they play exactly how a team should play if it isn't a good-shooting team: they run (lead NBA in fastbreak points), they penetrate and dish (2nd in assists), they attack the rim (about to obliterate the NBA all-time record for points in the paint), and they offensive rebound (lead NBA). In other words, exactly the opposite of how the Sixers play.

Iguodala has had a so-so year, by his standards. He was leading the team in scoring after the first month, but the team wasn't doing as well then. During the 29-6 streak in the last couple months, he's blended in on offense (Lawson and Gallinari are the "shooters" on the team) and focused on defense. On defense, Iguodala's numbers are down because (a) he's downgraded from one of the best on-ball point guard defenders in the league in Jrue to two of the worst in Lawson and Miller [so Denver is constantly in rotations] and (b) he's downgraded from one of the best help big-men in the league in Thad to two of the worst in Faried and McGee. But even in a down year, Iguodala is still at the top of the league (6th in PER against at last check). He often does guard opposing point guards like Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook. It will be interesting to see if they put him on Jrue.

All that said, Coach Collins' defensive philosophy (no points in the paint) is geared toward stopping Denver's halfcourt attack, plus the Sixers' best scorers (Jrue, Thad) match up with the Nuggets' worst defenders (Lawson, Faried), so if the Sixers play their average game (i.e., not a game like last night), they will likely make it closer than the 15-point spread.

PEW ALERT: Following meditations on Andre "I Bring The Clang" Iguodala and Jrue "Heave If You Believe" Holiday, Friar Collins, in an unusual ad hoc motion, has added the Pepsi Center rims to the community prayer list.

Huge 3-minute stretch there, bench +7. Hope Collins doesn't go crazy trying to ride the "hot hand" here. Turner threw one pass into a Nugg's ankle, and on that last play he dribbled the ball off his knee.

OK, so if this was last season and Iguodala missed those two free throws, everyone able to type on a keyboard would be crucifying him. Think there will be any outrage over Turner tomorrow? What a fucking scrub.

Three freebies for Brewer. 2.1 seconds left. Wow. Sixers have a timeout. Pretty sure he's going to hit all three, then the Sixers probably won't be able to get the ball in bounds after using the timeout.

This should be Turner's last season in Philly. Admit the mistake and move on. The team has given him more than enough opportunities to show he belong as a building block for the future, he has shown he is not one of those blocks.

I still can't believe (no, I probably should) that this organization didn't learn from picking up Speights' option and how wasteful that was in regards to picking up Turner's when they did. Nothing but a waste and there's no reason they shouldn't have seen it. This franchise is notorious though for not cutting bait soon enough.

To be fair, Turner's freebies didn't lose the game all on their own. You had Jrue running the shot clock down to zero. You had Turner missing a layup on another busted play when they were icing it. You had the Damien Wilkins foul on the Brewer three-point attempt. You had Thad (I think) leaving Brewer to double Danillo on one of those final plays. But none of the other stuff matters if Turner doesn't choke from the line, so it's hard not to blame him. On the bright side, those missed freebies dropped Turner's efficiency below the Mendoza line, where it belongs.

Turner had 6 turnovers and 12 points on 13 possessions, and I have no idea who he guarded but I'm going to just assume they had a good game because he's Evan Turner. So yeah, I think that if Turner hadn't played at all and you just gave his minutes to Wright and Jenkins or Pargo, they win the game.

Talking about the Wiz ones, I remember a Cartier Martin one but that was quite a few years back I think. Remember either a John Wall or Roger Mason Jr. banked-heave-3 (after Jrue nearly had a steal) from near half court but can't remember how the other loss went down that was within that same season though.

I think you are thinking of the one where Jrue (I, think) fouled Wall from way behind the three-point line and he made all three free throws. Kinda similar to this one, because Turner missed free throws down the stretch of that one as well. Swaggy P had a big hand in one of those losses, too. Sort of like his Toronto game this year, his one standout game.

Yeah, the Cartier Martin three and then Jrue fouling Wall on the last-second heave. I think it was Lou that missed the two freebies prior to Jrue's foul, though, not Turner. Let me look it up. Nope, it was Turner. link, pretty much the exact same situation. Exact same result. That guy is clutch.

As far as road streak records, we tie the second-worst road losing streak in the history of the franchise today - 2 streaks actually, one spanning the 71-72 and 72-73 seasons, and another in the 72-73 season entirely. 72-73, of course, was the 9 win season. The franchise's worst road losing streak lasted 20 games, and took place, oddly, during the 1987-88 season, even though they went 36-46 and weren't that bad. 17th worst streak of the (still-young) century, 5th longest in the last 5 seasons.

Washington and Cleveland both had 26-game streaks a few years ago. Cleveland lost 34 straight the year before they drafted LeBron. And the 04-05 Hawks, who went 13-69 and were led by Antoine Walker and Al Harrington, quite a lethal combination, lost 23 straight. (By the way, I completely forgot that the Hawks fielded one of the worst teams ever not that long ago, or that Walker was a part of it, or that Mike Woodson, our coach of the year frontrunner not so long ago, coached them. That must be the worst team that no one ever talks about.) That's about it as far as big streaks in recent years.

I hate to be this negative but that was a really clutch loss. Its amazing we are on pace for about 30 wins and we still are only like the 11th worst team in the league. That really says something about the NBA being a league of have and have nots. Over 1/3 of the teams in the league may not win more then 30 games.

Some wonderful postgame quotes. Brewer, logically, thinks Turner played a causal role in the Denver win:

"It's crazy. To be honest, I didn't think we had any chance of winning," Brewer said. "Then he missed those free throws and I was like, 'OK, we've got a little chance.' He gave us life."

But Turner sees things differently!

"There's no one to point the finger at," Turner said. "We played hard the whole game, whatever could go wrong did go wrong." "Effort was there, energy was there, it was closing out the game," Turner said. "That's not what lost the game. Situations occurred. That's some crazy stuff that just happened. The season's been rough. That's one you just shake your head. It seems like a fluke to me."

Turner was equally unhappy about the free throws that could have iced the game. "I have to make those shots then," he said. "I have to. I cost my team the game. That's the way it's been going for us, the season in a nutshell. But I have to make those shots."

Yeah Turner didn't have a good game as usual but i wouldnt blame him for this loss. He didnt cause the shot clock violation in the last 2 minutes, and he didnt foul Brewer on the 3 point shot. He also didnt cause guys to not get open when he was throwing it in. Both his free throws went in and out. Missed by a quarter of an inch. A miss is a miss but he's a good free throw shooter and the game shouldnt have come down to that.

You really think Hawes is better thought off than he deserves? Honestly, i am getting to the point where i think it's the other way round. I have a feeling that the Sixers fanbase think he is not worth a roster spot on an NBA team. And lets face, while Hawes has some terrible aspects to his game, he is not that bad. He is not good by any stretch of imagination, but he is not THAT bad.

P.S. I actually think his recent stretch of play is actually much better than his play early last year. Hopefully he can become a trade asset by seasons end and not a waste of contract.

Hopefully at the ripe old age of 24 he is finally maturing, both physically and mentally. He and Moultrie showed some chemistry tonight and if our coach gives them a lot of time together to finish the year it could prove interesting.

A disposable factoid. Miller has teeth, particularly when it matters. Can't expect the ol' boy to defend much. But he's an uncommon NBA basketball player in that he knows how - and practices it, with dedication, without show. Admit it, you like him.

Typical lawyer's trick: if a line of reason doesn't work fundamentally, go arcane on 'em, take a country road. The battle's won when eyes glaze over.

Do you moonlight as a somellier? I'm planning a midsummer soiree with a guest list full of discriminating tasters..."Lowdown at the Hoedown; Lotsa Hooch, Bring Your Pooch." You'd be a hit. I don't pay as well as Jay Gatsby but money's not everything. Roots galore.

Spencer's play lately gives me more hope than his strong play at the beginning of last season because he is FINALLY showing the ability(or will) to finish inside. I'm not sure why its taken this long for him to do it, I'm not sure if he can(or will) permanetly make it a part of his game, but it is something I've never seen before from him.

Or, maybe he can only produce when there are zero expectations. He's a decent player, but let's not act like he's turned a corner. If anything, it infuriates me that now, when it's meaningless (I'm pro-tank), he's suddenly good.

btw, I caught a bit of the OK State game yesterday. I guess the appeal with Smart is that he's a really, really big guy to be a PG. Unfortunately, he's not a PG, so I don't see how that's a big advantage at the next level. He'll be an SG or a really bad PG.

I wanted to check out that PF from UNLV who Ford has as #2 on the Sixers list, but they're done already so I guess I won't be able to. Want to catch Indy and Duke, I guess, since the Sixers are probably going to take one of those upperclassmen bigs from either school.

Kevin Pelton said in his chat today that of all the players in the tournament, Smart's game translates best to the next level. He also said he's a big John Wall fan and thinks he should likely get the max. Meanwhile, Shabbaz Muhammad has been lying about his age, is really 20:

I don't think it makes a huge difference to evaluating him as a player. If it were three years, it would, but 20's still pretty young. Maybe it raises questions about his character though, or at least his honesty. But I mean, from the Sixers perspective you just hope he's also invented a dying girlfriend and scares teams into thinking he's a nutjob.

I really don't know why you're so certain of this. I think Zeller will be unavailable, even if we move up to 8 (which we easily can), and Plumlee... aside from the Collins/Duke connections, why would we do that?

Those are the two guys Ford has us taking if we stay at or around #10. Doesn't really matter. No one in this draft excites me. Think best case is you get a wing who can defend a little and/or shoot a little. And that's if you get into the top three.

See, I think it's just a biological fact that some of the basketball players born in the years that this draft pulls from are going to be really good players. It would be really weird if the best player born in 1993-94 was just a wing who could defend a little or shoot a little. There's always someone who surprises. Every year some athletic player who seemed too raw to do much really turns out, and every year some skilled player who seemed too unathletic or undersized to do much really turns out.

Combine this with expansion and the years when the NBA started drawing iunterational players, and you can sort of figure out why there have been ups and downs in terms of talent. If you have a trough in births (70's) + league expansion then you get a diluted league.

Then the combined effects of the baby boomlet and euros leads to a new generation of superstars that dominate over the weaker vets.

This is definitely a down year, and some classes are more talented than others, but I can't believe that the swings are ever so huge that the best player in any one draft class is a wing who can defend a little. Drafts are just really hard to handicap. For instance, in 2011 we all wanted Bismack and this was the reaction of one of our smartest commenters to the Vucevic pick, expressing the consensus view:

"I would have taken Singleton or Hamilton in that spot. Probably Honeycutt and Faried too."

Zeller is fairly skilled and runs the floor really well but seems too weak and soft to me to be an effective NBA center. Plumlee is just an athletic guy who may make a good third big man. In any event, I don't think Chad Ford has any insider knowledge that we want those two guys, he just assumes we're drafting a big man.

I don't have any particular disdain for either guy, other than hating upperclassmen who didn't dominate early. Mostly, I see this entire draft as pretty meaningless. The Bynum situation is the only meaningful (in a positive fashion) thing that realistically could happen this summer. Whether they get a fringe starter or even a decent starter in the draft doesn't matter. Even if they win the lottery, there's no one in this draft who's going to provide more than a marginal upgrade, and until they add a guy who legitimately makes a difference, it's just shuffling deck chairs. Seller at #10 or Oladipo at #8, or Nerlens at #1, it really doesn't make a difference unless Bynum comes back and plays at a high level. If he doesn't, this team is fucked because they aren't going to sit on the cap space, they're going to waste it on someone who might get them back to the #8 seed and keep them there through Jrue's prime.

FWIW, Zeller did dominate as both a freshman and sophomore. I would be very mad with Plumlee who i think will be nothing more than a journeyman big, but, Zeller could be a solid player. The only problematic factor about him is his lack of wingspan which might make him a defensive liability. I wouldn't excited with Zeller, but they could certainly do worse at 10.

Up 98-90 with 2:07 left. Up by 5 with :14 left. Hey, Doug, head coach, take responsibility. What do I want you to do? That's simple. I want you to bring the lead to shore. Yeah, your players "made bad plays." But your coaching was scrubby too. The "TNT shit"-panic on the court was a reflection of your own. But don't worry, the scribes will scratch your back, especially when your back gets up.

It was pretty shitty coaching to have Turner triggering the inbound pass. Then the final play w/ 2.1 seconds was a joke. He definitely has some culpability. Of course, I don't see how you can blame him for blowing two free throws or fouling a guy putting up a 28-footer.

Don't think Evan was the worst choice for sideline throw-in (long arms, decent vision). Do think it was stupid to have Wilkins on floor and an option; he's not exactly an elusive butterfly. Need a big body (or two) to set a big pick in that situation. Where was it?

Along with intensity, I think Collins transmits panic, to those who are disposed to unraveling. Talks a great game; average coach.

Turner spent the whole night throwing passes to the refs and the Nuggets. Agree they needed a picker, or even just a big target to throw it in to. I'm not expert at x's and o's, but shouldn't a guy like Collins be able to draw up a play to get the ball in, especially when you have the entire 94 feet to work with?

Trivia question: who's the only player (since 1985) to have a 25/9/4 steals/4 blocks game before he turned 20? Which two players did it before they turned 21? Which three players did it, if you require at least one assist, before they turned 22? The answers are Moe Harkless last night, Moe Harkless and Shaq, and Moe Harkless, Shaq and Garnett. Even going past 21 it's a pretty impressive list.

but when the ownership group & front office collective negate their strategized, acquired fortune by empowering de facto GM/head coach Collins (and others?) to give it away for a quick reach at the brass ring...hmm...

20 years seems like a stretch, if only because the players he lists just go back 8 years, but it doesn't at all stand to reason that they would have had multiple 50-win seasons had they drafted well after the 8th pick. For one thing, a team could draft really well but mismanage their roster in other ways, which has arguably been the case with us, and for another, picking players at 8-15 that are better than the average players you get in those spots may only mean that you're drafting good non-star players, and certainly may only mean that you're drafting good-non-superstar players. Iguodala and Thad and Jrue were real finds where they were drafted, though I know you may not like to admit that, but a team built around them probably isn't going to win much more than 50 games even if you do sign the right role players to fill in around them, which we never did.

'04: If Toronto doesn't stupidly pick Rafael Araujo of Brigham Young, Iguodala (.123) doesn't fall in their lap. Just because most of Philly never heard of him (as he was from midwest & west), it doesn't negate the fact that he was high profile with scouts. The find of that draft was Anderson Varejao at #30 (.151).

'07: Thad (.119) as 12th pick was a bit of a reach as he was considered raw, but not a big stretch. Carl Landry at #31 (.153) and Marc Gasol at #48 (.158) were finds that yr.

'09: #17 Jrue (.077) was well-known from AAU/McDonald's play, was no find. In picking Jrue, Sixers passed on #18 Ty Lawson (.146), #19 Jeff Teague (.107), #26 Taj Gibson (.128) and #37 DeJuan Blair (.138), each of whom could have added to the local team's cause.

The front office of the Sixers has NOT been creative in a significant way. The 20 yr record is what the 20 yr record is; there's no dancin' around it. You seem to swallow the organization's hype regarding its best talent hook, line and sinker. Iguodala and Young are plus players. Holiday has potential, but it certainly hasn't been harnessed despite the AS designation. B grade players picked at 9, 12 & 17; nothing to rave about. And where's that gotten them? They currently are situated at 26-42, 20th best in league, with an ego-crazed and frazzled coach, a dud center acquisition, non-dazzling other free agent pickings and a relatively weak upcoming draft talent pool. X, as in deep doo-doo, marks their spot.

You're a boob, for the most part, but if you wanted to make a valid argument here, you could point out that the Sixers had multiple chances to draft Gadol that year, and they really needed someone they could stash, instead they wasted the picks they got from Denver in the Iverson deal.

I made plenty of points. I certainly don't need yours, however spiffy you pigheadedly think they are. Your name calling doesn't surprise. Derision from you, an over-the-top lover of Iguodala and Holiday, is a form of flattery.

Surely you don't really think that Dejuan Blair is a better player than Jrue, or that we'd be better off with Jeff Teague. I think the relevant point here is what teams ahead of us and immediately below us did. In 2004, Okafor, Ben Gordon, Harris, Childress, and Araujo went ahead of Iguodala, while Jackson, Biedrins, Swift and Telfair went after. Iguodala was probably the second or third best player taken in the lottery. In '07, teams would take Jeff Green, Yi Jianlain, Corey Brewer, Brandan Wright, Hawes, and Acie Law ahead of Thad, while Julian Wright and Al Thornton went immediately after him and people at the time thought we should've taken Thornton. As it turned out he was the 4th or 5th best player taken in the lottery. Jrue was picked 17th after 6 players who have done little (Earl Clark, Hansbrough, Henderson) to nothing (Daye, James Johnson, Terrence Williams) in their NBA careers. I like Lawson myself, but Jrue's outperformed older point guards picked immediately after him (Teague, Collison). At worst, we picked the second best player available at that point.

The relevant point here is, you're a hoops genius. Will you speak at my summer camp? For free? I don't have the time or the will to sift through your past drafts gobbledygook, but bring an extract to Camp Dollar Bill and I'll autograph it.

All I'm saying is that the recent history of the Sixers drafting 9-17 has yielded players that have been much better than the average players typically drafted at that position. But partly that is a reflection of how weak that part of the draft tends to be.

Going to none other than the Sxiers current analytics guy, Aaron Barzalai, here is the "average player" drafted at various picks:

Easily Iggy, Thad and Jrue (and likely Vuce) are better than these average picks.

That does not mean those picks helped the team be great. Just as likely, they were part of the reason the team stayed mediocre instead of being able to bottom out to where they could get more elite talent. And the team has been bad at top 6 picks, which are much more important to get right.

How you draft in the late lottery is not the measure of an organization. It would be like a NFL team being able to find above average guys in the later rounds but frequently blundering with their 1st and 2nd rounders (sounds vaguely familiar.)

But just because the Sixers organization has been a train wreck for the last 20 years does not mean that they were terrible in every area. It's just that the one area they were good in was not enough. Had they just had one superstar big and where adding guys like Jrue and Iggy as complements, it would have maybe gotten them to the next level like what the Spurs were able to do around Duncan. But without that top star in the NBA, just about everything else is irrelevant. Like serving tremendous gravy on Thanksgiving but ruining the turkey.

Rose, who last informed the media that only God knows when he'll return, now explains that "I feel when I'm ready to come back I'll be ready no matter when it is. Whenever I'm ready I'm going to be out there." He further explained that he'll know he's ready when he can play scrimmages without thinking about what he's going to do next: "Sometimes, you kind of think a little bit when I’m out there. That’s when I know I’ll be ready to play, when I’m out there not thinking but reacting."

No offense to anyone who digs college hoops, but I've caught part of about 10 games and that shit is unwatchable. No one can hit a free throw, seems every team is trying to run a pussified version of the Princeton offense, most possessions end in wild threes or just terrible out of control layups, no one can handle the ball, the announcers have an orgasm whenever some scrub makes a crossover without turning the ball over. It's like pulling teeth, I'd rather watch a high school game around here, at least those kids have been coached.

Is an explanation needed for a fan liking the best player on his favorite team? I'd think the guy who hates the best players on his favorite team would be the one who needs to explain his fixation. Or the guy who's in love with Willie Green and Marreese Speights.

What four players since 1985 have had a game with 24 points, 12 defensive rebounds, 3 assists and 5 blocks before their 23rd birthday? If you guessed Shaq, Duncan, Howard, and DeMarcus Cousins tonight, you win a cookie.